Press Release

FQ Projects is pleased to present the young artist Mo Di’s first solo exhibition in Shanghai: My Dream is a Cage.

Looking at her works, whether the little girl or the empty botanic garden, there is a strong force attracting the viewers to go into the paintings.

Mo Di sees Louise Bourgeois as her idol, and agrees that art is a process of knowing oneself. Deng Jian, her mentor in her university once said: “People spend their whole life looking for sense of security. Do not lose yourself for a man, a woman or a certain type of lifestyle .”。

Constantly seeking the way to get along with herself, adjusting the position of herself, makes her able to build a safe wall to interact with people, the outside world and everything unknown. This is to understand from within and then to understand the world, that is shown in her artworks.

This is also the first exhibition showing Mo Di’s works on canvas at FQ Projects. Her personal style is particularly reflected in her use of light whether it is the strong contrast of light and darkness in The Entrance of Dream and Monologue, the shaky light in Ritual or the halo spreading the whole image in Lost River. Over the last two years, symmetry and mirroring have been often used, as in the works My Dream is a Cage and Wonderland. Her vision is extremely dreamlike, inviting viewers to go inside, into a infinite deep space. We fear of falling in, yet do not want to escape.

By creating The Entrance of Dream, Mo Di declares that she is at another stage in her life, like opening a new entrance. In this work, a group of females sits together around the bonfire, reminding people of a witch rally. Starting from The VVitch series, the artist pays attention to the stigmatization of female and thus begins her constant exploration and reflection on this issue.